Christmas Cards 2010

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Abbie

Gifted Tag Christmas

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A Day at the Park

Posted on December 6, 2010 by Abbie

I’m getting out of order with pictures but couldn’t resist putting these wonderful pictures up from last week. My friend, Tracy, did these unofficial professional pics! I thought she did an amazing job.

It really wasn’t that cold…but he was not very happy about this one.

Did I mention we were invaded last week by our good friends from Transueland???

While getting pictures for Christmas cards, I also snuck in some pictures of Bryant to update our wall!

The Christmas Card picture!

Is this a Gap baby ad or what???

Best Buds!

He found the dirt!

Spot the Ceili Rain!

I’m telling you she loves to ham it for the camera!

That’s one determined little boy.

Astronaut, Army, and Tutu Gals*…

Posted on November 18, 2010 by Abbie

And the question is, “Who showed up at our Circle Time during school?”

I wish to thank Wal-Mart for putting Halloween costumes on sale for 50% off (and later for 90%).

Or rather my children would like to thank Wal-Mart for their after Halloween sales.

Stylin’ and profilin!

*We also had a special forces operative but he couldn’t appear on camera (it’s top secret…or something).

Hay Jumpin’

Posted on November 17, 2010 by Abbie

It’s not late, so I should be a little coherent.

These were taken at the dairy farm we visited in October. They had a huge hay bale and a bunch of hay on the ground for soft landings.

Check. out. that. hair.

It looks like he’s taking off…but he’s actually about to land! Right after this was when realized that mid air spirals never had soft landings despite what was underneath.

*Not quite sure why the pictures are so small…may have to swap to an online site to get the pictures in and out and up.

Dairy Farmin’

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Abbie

UPDATE: Apparently, at eleven o’clock at night, I can’t realize that I’m posting extremely large pictures and no titles…sorry! The pictures will just have to stay large but I did put a title in.

Posting for me two days in a row! This is a new record 🙂

Waaay back in October. Among our other adventures, we headed to a dairy farm that has just started a corn maze. It’s only twenty minutes from our home, which is amazing considering that we live in the middle of a city (a small city but still not full of cow farms!). We all had a great time. Not only did they have a maze but they had other activities too. Like…

Giant slides!

Swingy thingys!

That would be Zoe after the giant slide (I braided her hair…two hours of little tiny braiding the night before and she was most happy with the outcome!)

Rubber ducky and water pump races (this was one of the main highlights for our kids).

See???

Hay Jumping (I’ll have more of that tomorrow)…do you see the look of pure joy on that boy’s face?!

Pillow jumping (a big inflated pillow…I just sat on it and was airborne several times…pretty cool but not fun for the younger ones).

Oh yeah, and the maze!

We got out with only a few wrong turns!

I think they spent an hour in the corn box! I was in there only a few minutes and I had it in my pants. Most uncomfortable.

Bryant enjoyed the scenery!

Yes, the corn box rocked! But wait, there’s more!

This one’s for Papa who asked if Liam was going to milk a cow. And he did!

So did Zoe!

And a petting zoo for Ceili Rain who loved the goats!

Yep, we had fun at the dairy and can’t wait to go back next year! The goal is for them to create their own creamery to process and sell milk from the farm. They are also renovating the dairy so that it can be toured. It’ll be fun to see what all they do next year!

Going Back in Time

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Abbie

So, after returning from our friends’ home in Kentucky we ventured on another trip…this time back in time. A local living history park puts on an event twice a year called Colonial Days. It’s an amazing event! They had all sorts of entertainment and merchants set up like it was during the colonial time period. Storytellers and dancing and entertainers were all around. This was our first time to attend and we are set for this to be a family tradition from here on out. Everyone has requested period costumes as well.

The Indians going to help with a “skirmish.” We’re not quite sure what all involved but we know it had something to do with those “rebel” patriots and some Hessian mercenaries (I sure hope I spelled that right).

This guy was amazing. He was a lace merchant. Not a lace maker…that’s what those peasants are for. He imitated a french lace merchant who had fleed France because of the revolution over there. He would talk and work on the lace. It was amazing to see how lace was made. Although, he said it was not very time consuming, it sure looked like it. He’s known as the annoying Frenchman and he played it to a ‘t!’

I’m not sure if these are regulars there but there were turkeys and chickens all around. And they were pet turkeys and chickens. The kids were able to go right up to them and pet them. *Note Ace’s notebook…yep, we’re homeschoolers!

Ceili Rain was amazed at the tame turkey (I’m guessing he thought if he behaved he wouldn’t end up on a plate this year!).

Off to the stocks with ya!

And yes, we are still stuck in October. I’m almost through with the month though. If Bryant keeps on napping as he did this past Friday, well, I’ll be caught up by the end of the week!

A New Brother!

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Abbie

Hehehe…I know what you all are thinking! But remember, Bryant’s only three months old…that would be a record for us. So, no, I’m not pregnant, and no, our adoption process is still on hold.

Anyway, we are rejoicing in our household because Ace accepted Christ as his Savior. Mark had the privilege, yet again, of sharing with Ace how to commit his life to Christ. This time, though, I was able to sit with Mark and Ace as Ace prayed for forgiveness of his sins and asked Christ to be Lord over his life.

Mark is working with Ace (and Ace is reminding him too) to make sure he understands his commitment. However, we are already seeing fruit from his new life! The Holy Spirit is working in his heart and he sees and is sorrowful when he sins. I can not wait to see how God will grow his heart and his life as He strives to bring God glory.

By the way, Ace had been asking question the week after we returned from Kentucky. Mark was able to sit down with him on Friday, October 22rd and talk to him about some of the things he had been thinking about. I really believe that God used the Creation Museum to prepare Ace’s heart to hear God’s word (as well as going through catechisms and stories related to the catechisms) and be open to a commitment to Him.

A Coconut Story

Posted on October 29, 2010 by Abbie

This was too funny not to share. While at the Creation Museum we were visiting the animals at the petting zoo. As we got ready to leave, Liam took off towards the camel pen and exclaimed, “Oh look! Coconuts!” and he picked. them. up. I’ll let Liam tell you in his own words what exactly it was…

A Coconut?! from justabunchofcharacters on Vimeo.

And in case you didn’t catch that, it was not a coconut that he picked up, it was a poo. Camel poo to be precise. We. were. rolling!

And yes, I did make him wash his hands before we left! Maybe that’s where all the stomach bugs came from!

Oh, and I think I failed to clarify that the stomach bug was only biting at night. No one really got sick during the day which means we partied and spread germs all day and then stayed up all night throwing up (well, Ace and Ceili Rain did).

Creation Museum

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Abbie

Can I just say, “WOW!” We had a wonderful, amazing time at the Creation Museum! It was two hours from our friends’ home so we had decided to load up the kids and go. Unfortunately, one of their kids was sick so they stayed home and we borrowed Laura to go with us (because, as I said earlier, Zoe and Laura were inseperable). So, we decided to spread the germs (and we did) with all of Christiandom. And, as Mark put it, we traveled nine hours and were blessed with free tickets…there was no way he was going to let sick kids stop us. Okay, so they really weren’t the ones who were sick. It was actually Mark and I that had to keep running to the bathroom (at least we weren’t throwing up). The museum is very well done and for the first time, our kids weren’t running from place to place…they actually stopped and listened as we explained each exhibit. I was impressed with that.

The live fish were fun too!

And the garden was soooo beautiful.

They made a perfect backdrop for our beautiful young lady!

The animals enjoyed us petting them (as long as we had food)…and we got to see a Zonky and a Zorse (that’s a donkey/zebra mix and a horse/zebra mix…an example of changes within the kind not jumping from one species to the other…a chicken-cat for example would never be able occur…as well as an ape-human…different species see?!)

Josiah, Liam, and Zoe all voted to ride the camel. Laura wanted to win we got there but Mark held firm that we weren’t trekking all the way back down to pay for another person to ride…so it was just the three!

Naps on the go!

Posed picture time…

Bryant’s fav place…

Okay, this was really long so you’ll have to come back tomorrow for the coconut story!

Posted on October 27, 2010 by Abbie

It was such beautiful weather, that we couldn’t resist taking the kids to another park (we’re still in Kentucky here)…by this time we had throw up occurring on a regular nightly basis Ceili Rain and Ace were the main culprits)…however, they always felt fine during the day. Who knows how many people we infected while we were there!